All About Kitty Kallen

     Kitty Kallen was a popular American Big Band Jazz singer in the 1940s and '50s. She was born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family on May 25th, 1921. She won a contest as a child by impersonating singers of the day. When her dad saw the prize she brought home (a camera), he thought she had stolen it, and punished her. Neighbors came and congratulated Kallen's father, and he realized she was telling the truth. She didn't play any instruments besides the accompaniment of her silky voice. There are three reasons Kallen is an important figure in Jazz: she replaced Helen O'Connell in the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in 1943, sang the vocal chorus on a pair of Harry James hits, and 1954's "Little Things Mean a Lot" was the year's most popular song. Her song "Little Things Mean a Lot" is featured on YouTube in this video. Another one of her songs, "Coloring Book", is displayed on YouTube in this video.

A reflection on Chris Conner

She was born on November 8, 1927 as Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri. She studied clarinet for eight years through jounior high and high school. She sung in public in 1945, at Jefferson City Junior College’s graduation. The type of jazz she done was Vocal Jazz. She was important to jazz because she gave woman some hopes and thanks for her being a strong woman at that time period. She most likely helped the music industry see that female artist can do what the male artist can do too. In closing I leave you with a video of one of her songs.

The Life of Kay Starr

Kay Starr was born on July 21, 1922 In Oklahoma. Her birth name is Katherine Laverne Starks. She is of Irish and American Indian heritage. At the age 15 she was chosen to sing with the Joe Venuti orchestra. When Starks father changed jobs she had to move to Memphis where she continued performing on the radio. She sang "Western swing music", country, and pop.How she got the name Kay Starr was inspired by a fan who misspelled so her parents changed her name to Kay Starr. Most of her songs are only influences of Jazz in them. Starr was on of the first female artist to perform country western swing music. As of 2010 she is still preforming. Here is a video of one of her songs "Wheel Of Fortune".

Pop vs. Rock, What Would You Choose?

My preferred genre of music would definitely have to be rock. One song I generally can’t stop myself from listening to is “Sarcasm”, by Get Scared. At the beginning of the song, the texture is pretty thin, but it gradually heightens as drums and electric guitars get louder and more apparent. The lead singer’s voice is incredibly unstable and all over the place, but that’s what makes the song so intriguing. This track’s tempo is slightly fast, but not too over the top. Melody in “Sarcasm” is very obvious, which also adds to the intriguing factor. It’s immensely simple to sing to. The way the song goes from verse to chorus, verse to chorus, bridge, then ending with the chorus, isn’t really standard among songs, but it still makes sense. Get Scared says that “Sarcasm” is one of their favorite songs off the album. Craig Mabbitt, the lead singer of Escape the Fate and a friend of Get Scared, was asked to hang out and they said the collaboration just happened. What I think the lyrics are talking about is being in a relationship and having it all come crashing down, and everybody judges you no matter what.

          Pop isn’t really my style of music in the first place, but Lady Gaga pretty much just ruined any chance i had of getting into the genre. Her new song, “Born This Way”, exploded when it was released but I don’t understand why. The texture is thin at the start, but after the first several seconds, it thickens and continues like that throughout the song until the end, where it thins again and softens as it comes to a close. The track’s tempo is pretty speedy, considering how fast she sings the lyrics. Her voice is not my favorite to begin with, but adding to my dislike, when she speaks the lyrics instead of singing them, it gets moderately low and she sounds masculine. The melody is unique and different, and it is definitely singable. The form is so diverse: verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus, tab. What I believe the lyrics are talking about is everyone being beautiful in their own way, and that God made everyone a certain way for a reason. Gaga says "Born This Way" is a reflection that her support for gay rights and equality is completely genuine.
         All in all, I love Get Scared and not too fond of Lady Gaga. The elements in each are so different, which makes their song styles so easy to say yay or nay to. Texture is the main contrasting element between these tracks in my opinion. “Sarcasm” is truly the epitome of rock, with it’s electric guitars, drums, and the singer’s voice so in your face. Lady Gaga is conflicting with her vocal range, most of the time being feminine but also adding in those masculine moments.

Good and Bad Song

I love southern rock. The guitar solos, the way the bands perform, the whole musical experience. A song I like is the song "Hotel California" by The Eagles. The song kind of gives you a dark feeling about it. It is about doing hard drugs but it's still a really great song tho. The main reason I love this song is because when I was growing up I would always hear it from my parents. The song has a great sound of guitar, drums, bass, and the lead singer's voice really makes the song pop. That’s why I love the song Hotel California.

A pop song that I hate is "Beat It" by Michael Jackson. I don’t hate it for the beat or anything like that it's just that I have heard it so very much in my life. My family, friends, and even me has played it so much. Michael Jackson is an amazing artist but it's just how he sings it and the video too. I don’t know, maybe I'm crazy or just plain weird but that’s why i hate the song "Beat It".

These songs are kind of hard to compare because one is southern rock and the other pop. Both songs have made a big name for the bands that sung and performed them and the songs themselves are really amazing as well. "Beat It" has an upbeat sound as "Hotel California" is a kind of lower sound. Pop music sometimes but most of the time does not have instruments as southern rock has them in it. They are still really amazing songs though.

"45" and "California Gurls"

The song "45" by Shinedown is one of the greatest songs they created, they have a terrific beat and a fantastic rhythm in this song. If you like Shinedown or rock, you will want to read this post.

This song has a medium speed tempo but it is a song anyone can sing to and everyone will want to sing to when they hear it. It has a great texture, it begins thin during the verses and then it is thick during the chorus and at the end of the song it is extremely thick. The melody or tone of the song starts out sort of soft and then gets really loud but it sounds great. Shinedown is one of the best rock bands of our century, every song they have made has been a big hit. The interpretation of this song is how life can feel like a gun, it's about being comfortable with yourself, which is one of the hardest things to do. I think it is about realization on how hard life can get. Harmony in this song is peaceful at first and kind of sad for the rest of the song.


The song "California Gurls" by Katy Perry and Snoop Dogg is one of the worst songs i have ever heard, it was okay the first ten times but after that it got old really quick. If you like this song, you must have not heard it as many times as I have.

The texture of this song is medium, it's not thick but it's not thin, it has a great texture but it is played way too much. The melody is almost good, it is just sung to much, Katy sings it at least four times in three minutes. Harmony is perfect, this is the best part about this song and it is usually the best part of any song she sings. The interpretation for this song is a metaphor saying that today's pop artists are in it for the money. I think that is just to represent where she lives and to encourage people to come to California.


The comparison of both "45" and"California Gurls"-

Both songs are good but one is the best of the two. Shinedown's "45" has terrific beats and a rocking rhythm. But Katy Perry's "California Gurls" has a great harmony and lots of popularity. I think that "45" is the bettter song but that's only my opinion.

One Amazing song(: And One Horrible Song

I love Acoustic music. The vulnerability of not having distorted sounds, the intimacy between the listener and the artist, and the whole-hearted lyrics make me feel like I can connect within the story the artist is offering.

My Favorite song is “With You” By Matthew Hobby. This song is very calm and collective. It starts out with only the guitar, but the words come in shortly after throughout the rest of the song.

The texture starts out mellow with just guitar and voice during the entire song. The tempo is slow and sweet; that’s why I love it.The melody is sung by the male singer; which is smooth and full of sustain. The chorus is just the same concept as the verse, but with long, drawn out words. The form of this song is verse,chorus,verse, and chorus.

The inspiration for the song is: He wanted to write a song that was sweet, slow, and easy to slow dance to. The reason I love this song so much is because I feel like he’s singing to me.

The song I despise is “A Milli” by Lil’ Wayne. After the songs first starts out with the repetition of the words, “A Milli” it sounds like he says, “Macaroni” which makes absolutely no sense. You really can’t understand a lot of what it says. It starts off with the same consecutive drum beat through the whole song. The tempo is a moderate speed. There is no melody to this song whatsoever because there is no singing involved. There is no chorus, just three verses. The form of this song is verse. The inspiration for the song is: There really is not anything that would inspire someone to write a song like that other than self-opinion.
My interpretation of the song is: He thinks he’s amazing and he’s really not, and he has no real musical talent.

The Differences between these two songs that makes me love “With You” but, hate “A Milli” is: “With You” is very soft and amazing, and it just all flows together gently. Then, on the other hand, you have “A Milli”, which just rambles a bunch of words together that you can’t understand. It also has no melody or a good beat. So, in conclusion, this is why I like Acoustic Music and hate Rap.
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